A company performs best when its employees are healthy and are confident they have reliable access to quality health care should they need it. A business’ support of health-care providers in a community is not only good for business; it’s simply the right thing to do.

When a rural hospital fails, as has happened five times in Georgia over the past three years, unemployment rates spike. Local officials can seek to recruit new businesses, but competing for companies is difficult with limited health-care facilities in the area.

Making matters worse, residents in rural sections of Georgia often need more health services than those in metro areas. Many rural residents work in physically high-risk jobs including Georgia’s number one industry, farming, as well as manufacturing and transportation positions.

Georgia’s rural hospitals are struggling. They can’t compete for doctors who are drawn to the larger metro hospital salaries. Rural hospitals likewise often rely on older equipment and lack the funds to upgrade; most rural hospitals have no resources to purchase advanced analytic technology that could help provide the most efficient medical care to the neediest patients; and recent federal guidelines have required hospitals to adopt electronic recordkeeping systems at a cost of $1 million or more.

The problem is real, it is severe, and it affects all of us. But you can help.

Last year, the Georgia General Assembly passed Senate Bill 258 that creates a tax credit for businesses and individuals who donate to rural hospitals.

Whether you run a small company, a large corporation, or even if you are an average Georgia taxpayer, I encourage you to join me in offering financial support to our local hospitals.

Through the tax credit program, a single head of household can receive 70 percent of the amount donated or $2,500 off their state taxes, whichever is less.

A married couple filing jointly can receive 70 percent of the donated amount or $5,000 off their state taxes, whichever is less. A corporation can receive 70 percent of the amount donated or 75 percent of the corporation’s state taxes, whichever is less.

Recently, a statewide task force of business and community leaders was appointed by Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle to help promote the tax credit program. Members of “Rural Healthcare 180” interviewed CEOs from rural hospitals across the state. When asked what they would do with donated money, they said they would offset long-term debt, update IT systems to eliminate repetitive tests, and make long needed renovations to hospital infrastructure. Many CEOs said they would recruit physicians and even more said they were in dire need of facilities for behavioral health services.

Our rural hospitals are in crisis and their struggles are affecting entire regions of our state. Although the tax credit itself is enticing from a financial perspective, the philanthropic aspect of the program – the need to give – is real. Through this program, our state leaders have made it easy to help.

For information about donating, please ask your accountant, contact the Georgia Department of Revenue, or visit www.RuralHealthcare180.org.

 

Tim Golden is a former state senator from Valdosta who served in the Georgia Legislature from 1991 to 2014 representing the 8th Senatorial District. He currently serves as a member of the State Transportation Board of Georgia for the 8th Congressional District. He is a member of the Rural Healthcare 180 Task Force.